13 'thugs' die in attack on China police station

Jun. 21, 2014
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Armed policemen patrol a market on May 23, 2014, after attackers rammed two vehicles into a market and threw explosives, killing at least 31 people , in Urumqi in northwest China's Xinjiang region. / AFP/Getty Images

by Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY

by Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY

BEIJING â?? Chinese police shot dead 13 people who attacked a police station in the restive northwest region of Xinjiang Saturday morning, according to a report on the local government website and the state-run Xinhua news agency.

"A group of thugs drove a vehicle to ram the main office building of the public security bureau of Yecheng County in Kashgar District and detonated explosives," reported the official Tianshan Net web portal. "Police took decisive action and shot dead 13 thugs." Three policemen were slightly injured and no civilians were hurt, Tianshan reported.

The incident appears the latest in an escalating series of attacks over the past two years by radicalized members of Xinjiang's native Uighur population. Beijing says overseas terrorist groups spread terrorism and extremist views within Xinjiang and other parts of China. Uighur exiles argue that Chinese repression triggers the growing violence.

Located close to China's border with Pakistan, Yecheng, known as Karghilik to Uighurs, lies in the Uighur heartland of southern Xinjiang, where fewer Han Chinese have settled. The attack Saturday follows several similar attacks on police stations in Xinjiang in recent years

In addition to traditional targets within Xinjiang, assailants have begun attacking public places such as train stations and markets in other Chinese provinces.

Last month, 39 people died in the Xinjiang regional capital Urumqi when assailants threw explosives and drove two off-road vehicles through a crowd at a morning vegetable market. In March, 29 people died and 143 were wounded when five attackers armed with knives stabbed passengers at the main railway station in the southwestern city of Kunming.

In response, authorities have increased the presence of armed police in major cities nationwide and stepped up anti-terror drills. Thirteen people were executed in Xinjiang this week for terrorism and violent crimes, Xinhua reported Monday.

China launched a campaign Friday to cleanse the Internet of audio and video materials that promote terrorism and violence. The move will safeguard social stability and peace in Xinjiang, said the State Internet Information Office, which blamed such material for the "high incidence of terrorist activities at present."